Read More

Stories for food and drink fans

If you're a next-level gin enthusiast you can even buy 25ml test tubes (because one taste just doesn't quite cut it) and full bottles of your favourite finds.

And if you can take your eyes off the glass for just a moment, you might catch one of the entertainment stalls with cocktail demos, interactive games and a live swing band.

Keep going, don't be shy (Image: The Great British Gin Festival)

Expert mixologists have been booked to create eye-catching cocktail recipes complete with dry ice displays, and history buffs can listen to talks about the history of gin while they watch demonstrations showing how it's produced.

Or you can play with other gin-lovers to see who can drink a shot in the most unusual way. We recommend sitting that one out if you have a competitive streak. Or bad balance.

Organisers have promised a "sophisticated festival vibe" and it's been branded a "testament to the nation’s continued obsession with gin".

Is that an egg she's cracking into her drink...? (Image: The Great British Gin Festival)

Gin is historically a poor man’s tipple, and 'Drunkenness of the common people' became such a problem in the 1700s that new laws were introduced to limit consumption.

Protesters actually rioted in the streets to demand the return of their drink in the 1730 Gin Riots, and we have never been prouder of our British history.

By 1850 there were 5,000 'Gin Palaces' in London where the poor came to drink, leading to the belief that gin was a societal problem, and more reforms were put in place.

It would just be rude not to try them all (Image: The Great British Gin Festival)

It was only in 2009 that Sipsmiths overturned old tax laws, obtaining a licence for people to make smaller, craft batch quantities which led to the recent boom of craft batch gin production.

If you think there’s no better way to celebrate our renewed obsession with gin than to spend the day drinking the stuff, tickets are still up for grabs for £13.50 before booking fees, or £28 before fees for an upgraded package.